Next home opener – Stanford Cardinal

STANFORD, California – No. 2 Stanford (6-0) hosts No. 6 Texas (3-2) on Sunday for its first home game at Maples Pavilion at noon on ESPN.

SERIES AGAINST THE LONGHORNS: Stanford has a 22-10 overall record against Texas. Last season, Stanford swept the Longhorns for its first win in Austin since 2018 and the first road win against the Longhorns in program history. Texas won the last meeting between the two teams, a 3-1 decision in the 2023 NCAA Regional Final at Maples Pavilion.

LAST TIME: Stanford defeated both UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine on the road earlier this week. The Cardinal posted a season-high 15.0 blocks in a four-set win over the Gauchos, led by senior Sami Francis' career-high 10.0. Against the Waves, Jordyn Harvey posted a career-high 15 kills on .556 hitting, four aces and three blocks, while outside hitter Ipar Kurt posted a career-high 18 kills on .536 hitting.

REVIEW OF THE 2023 SEASON: Stanford finished the 2023 season with a 29-4 overall record and a 24th conference title with a 19-1 record in the Pac-12. The Cardinal made their 42nd NCAA postseason appearance in 43 seasons and reached their 17th regional final since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998.

HOME SWEET HOME: In seven seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford has an 85-12 record at Maples Pavilion, including 18-2 in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal won 32 consecutive home games to begin Hambly's tenure at Stanford.

Busy schedule: Stanford is scheduled to play 12 games against teams ranked in the AVCA preseason poll, including seven against top-10 opponents. The Cardinal will face No. 1 Texas (Sept. 15), No. 2 Nebraska (Sept. 18), No. 3 Wisconsin (Sept. 2), No. 9 Kentucky (Sept. 21), No. 18 Minnesota (Sept. 1) and No. 24 Marquette (Sept. 4) in nonconference play. Stanford will face No. 4 Pittsburgh (Oct. 20), No. 6 Louisville (Sept. 29 and Nov. 30), No. 14 Georgia Tech (November 9 and Nov. 27) and No. 20 Florida State (November 3) in ACC play.

COACH CHOICE: In its first ACC season, Stanford was voted second by the league's coaches. The Cardinal received three first-place honors and placed four players on the Preseason All-ACC team – middle blocker Sami Francis, setter Kami Miner, libero Elena Oglivie and outside hitter Elia Rubin.

MILESTONE UNLOCKED: Kami Miner recorded her 4,000th career assist in a four-set win over No. 6 Wisconsin on Sept. 2. She became the seventh player in school history to reach that milestone. In the rally scoring era through 25, Miner's 4,144 assists ranks third behind Jenna Gray (5,485) and Madi Bugg (5,014). Her 11.48 assists per set would be a program record in the rally scoring era through 25.

OLYMPIC TRADITION: Stanford graduate Kathryn Plummer ('20) won a silver medal with the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Plummer, who won three national titles on The Farm (2016, 2018, 2019), is the 11th Olympian in program history. Her spot on the squad continued Stanford's streak of having at least one former Cardinal player on every U.S. Indoor Olympic team since 1988. A school-record 59 Stanford athletes qualified to compete in Paris, winning a total of 39 medals (also a record). In the third consecutive edition of the Games, Stanford had more nominations for Team USA (37) than any other school.

IN NUMBERS: Stanford has won more NCAA titles (9), more NCAA Tournament games (138), been to the Final Four more times (23) and played in more national championship games (17) than any other team in the country. The Cardinal have qualified for 42 of the 43 NCAA Tournaments overall.

COACHING EXCELLENCE: Kevin Hambly became the seventh Division I women's volleyball head coach to lead a school to back-to-back NCAA titles. Hambly now has a 177-37 (.827) record in eight seasons on The Farm and has mentored 13 AVCA All-Americans to 26 honors and six Academic All-Americans (eight honors).

THE HAMBLY FILE: Kevin Hambly coached 12 AVCA All-Americans to 19 honors during his time at Illinois and has now led 25 All-Americans to 45 honors. He is the third head coach to lead Stanford to a national championship. The two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year was the first Cardinals head coach (any sport) to win an NCAA title in one of his first two seasons on The Farm since 2005.